The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. TUESDAY, MARCH 5th, 1929. THE CRISIS IN SPAIN.

Hokitika Guardian, 5 March 1929, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. TU ESDAY, MARCH sth, 1929. THE CRISIS IN SPAIN.

\Yhkn a country is subject to a military Dictatorship, and the Government exercises a rigid censorship of the Press, it is always difficult for the outside world to know exactly what is a; ppening inside those closely sealed frontiers. In the ease of Spain, says a contemporary, a conspiracy, culminating in an abortive revolt, seems to have come to a head ....ree weeks ago, hut the facts liu.c uen so carol ally suppressed that we a, e forced to accept the official ac.ount of the situation and make the .rest of it. According to de Rivera’s organs, the whole affair was trivial .i! the extreme, the plot broke down in pelcsslv, there was no. bloodshed, and toe army and nation alike displayed unwavering loyalty to the Crown. Howler, there are two. important pieces d evidence that seem to conllict with this (Optimistic view of the case. Senor ncliez Guerra. ex-Prime Minister and me of the few Spanish statesmen with ,di international reputation, has been imprisoned on a charge of treason; and the King at de Rivera’s bidding has dissolved the whole of the artillery corps, numbering many thousands of troops. But perhaps the most interesting indication of the present'condition or Spain yet made available is the l loyal Ordinance issued immediately alter the alleged suppression of the revolt. This decree orders the authorities to arrest and punish “anyone who publicly predicts a calamitous end to the present regime.” or defames or calumniates Ministers, and it provides for the suppression of all clubs “which peak the rule ordering abstention from political discussion.” It further prescribes registers of officials in all Ministerial Departments giving an account of their “ability, zeal and discretion,” and similar registers of “persons likely to cause political trouble or public uneasiness” to he kept by the conservative and reactionary Patriotic Unions. Evidently de Rivera believes firmly in bis policy of coercion, intimdation and espionage. But, in spite of all assurances to the contrary, it is difficult to believe that the people), of Spain will accept such servitude tamely and peacefully for an indefinite time to come. King Alfonso himself, though lie is In some ways a typical representative of the Burbon-Hapshuirg line, lias too. much common sense to put much faith in a purely military tyranny, and his determination to have the succession to mo Throne approved by Parliament, instead of allowing it to depend on the irresponsible fiat of de .Rivera, may sooner or later precipitate the Dictator’s downfall. The crisis in Spain is one of daily concern, and the critical period will not pass for some time.